Travel Industry Survey 2024

About the Travel Industry Survey

For the 2024 Travel Industry Survey, Travel Weekly teamed up again with its sister brand, the travel research company Phocuswright, to examine trends among travel agencies and advisors in the U.S. The information presented in this report was obtained by distributing an online questionnaire to Travel Weekly and TravelAge West subscribers as well as members of various consortia and host agencies, inviting them to participate in the research project. 

The survey results were based on responses received by Phocuswright from 1,571 travel advisors who completed the questionnaire from Aug. 9 to Sept. 2. The report only utilized responses from those who are currently employed by a travel agency, are independent contractors for a travel agency or are travel agency owners or managers.

These responses were analyzed to understand the current state of the travel agency landscape and examine industry trends. Since the sample is not representative of all travel agencies in the U.S., the data is not statistically weighted.

We compare different groups of travel advisors in this report, and they are defined as:

• Traditional travel agents: travel agency office/retail storefront and home-based retail travel agency employees.

• Home-based independent agents: home-based, hosted independent contractors and home-based, fully independent agencies.

ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS

The majority of advisors surveyed this year identify as a travel advisor (49%), followed by travel agent (19%) and travel consultant (18%). Nearly two-thirds (63%) of advisors say they are home-based, independent contractors/agencies, while two in 10 work in a travel agency office or storefront, up from just 12% in 2023.

The majority of respondents (80%) identify as female; 55% are older than 55, and 18% are 45 or younger.

When asked to describe their position, 53% of advisors identify as travel agency owners or managers. Among home-based independents, 56% are travel agency owners or managers. More than half of advisors work for an agency that has been in business for more than 20 years, while half of home-based agents have been operating from home for five years or less.

Travel Weekly did not field the Travel Industry Survey in 2020. As a result, some of the charts do not have data from 2019.

CONTRIBUTORS

On the following pages, Travel Weekly editors offer analysis to help explain and break down the data found in the 2024 Travel Industry Survey.